Production begins on ARM's Cortex-A15 processor

20nm prepped for next-gen smartphones

Semiconductor companies ARM and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) have announced the taping out of ARM's new 20nm Cortex-A15 multicore processor.

"Taping out" refers to the creation of the final blueprint of an integrated circuit before it's sent for manufacture. It doesn't refer to measuring it with a tiny tape measure.

ARM believes the 20nm process chips will deliver twice the performance of preceding generations, and ARM's other physical IP technology will be optimised around them for performance and power.

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"This first 20nm ARM Cortex-A15 tape out paves the way for the next generation of SoC integration and performance," said Mike Inglis, executive vice president and general manager, Processor Division, ARM.

The chips reached this point in a mere six months, which TSMC reckons is down to its Open Innovation Platform, which "provides innovation for the semiconductor design community."

ARM will target the new chips at smartphones, tablets, mobile computers and "high-end digital home".

There's no mention of whether or not the new chips will run Windows 8, despite Microsoft saying that the new OS would run on ARM processors.